The Effects of Paid Family Leave in California on Labor Market Outcomes

Charles L. Baum () and Christopher Ruhm
Additional contact information
Charles L. Baum: Middle Tennessee State University

No 8390, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using data from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY-97), we examine the effects of California's paid family leave program (CA-PFL) on mothers' and fathers' use of leave during the period surrounding child birth, and on the timing of mothers' return to work, the probability of eventually returning to pre-childbirth jobs, and subsequent labor market outcomes. Our results show that CA-PFL raised leave-taking by around three weeks for the average mother and approximately one week for the average father. The timing of the increased leave use – immediately after birth for men and around the time that temporary disability insurance benefits are exhausted for women – is consistent with causal effects of CA-PFL. Rights to paid leave are also associated with higher work and employment probabilities for mothers nine to twelve months after birth, possibly because they increase job continuity among those with relatively weak labor force attachments. We also find positive effects of California's program on hours and weeks of work during their child's second year of life and possibly also on wages.

Keywords: leave-taking; wages; employment; family leave; paid leave; parental leave; return-to-work decisions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 J13 J18 J2 J3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2014-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-lab, nep-lma and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2016, 35 (2), 333 - 356

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effects of Paid Family Leave in California on Labor Market Outcomes (2016)
Working Paper: The Effects of Paid Family Leave in California on Labor Market Outcomes (2013)
Working Paper: The Effects of Paid Family Leave in California on Labor Market Outcomes (2013)
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